Dan from Madison – Page 83

The Word Really Doesn’t Mean Anything Anymore

September 9, 2009 by Dan from Madison

Certain words, when used over and over again seem to lose their meaning.

When I was growing up, if I would have been asked to take out the trash and I woud have uttered the phrase “this sucks”, it would have been met with a bar of soap in my mouth and more than likely several lashes with my dad’s leather belt. Today, if someone has a little sniffle or a cold, I would say to them “that sucks” and everone would go on their way without blinking an eye. In general, from what I have experienced, I would say that we have become more vulgar in a big way over the last few decades.

Another word that has lost much of it’s intended meaning is “racism” or “racist”. This morning I passed a van on the way to work. On the side were these words:

“Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women”. I will let you guess the organization before the fold.

Caption Contest

August 15, 2009August 15, 2009 by Dan from Madison

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I will start with “The White House War Room”. The winner receives hearty congratulations and perhaps a ChicagoBoyz certificate of achievement.

Two Cycling Books – A Dog In A Hat and Bobke 2

August 9, 2009August 9, 2009 by Dan from Madison

Over my vacation I brought two books along and completed them both. My only problem was that I completed both books on the first two days of my vacation, leaving me to get some supplementary reading material on the vacation.

The first book I read was “A Dog In A Hat” by Joe Parkin. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is the story of Joe Parkin, who at an early age leaves the USA and moves to Belgium to be a professional bicycle rider.

From the descriptions Parkin provides, professional bicycle riding is to the Belgians and Euros like professional football is in the USA. And I mean American football. Members of cycling teams in Europe have trading cards and fan clubs.

ATC – Getting Things Done

July 14, 2009 by Dan from Madison

Usually Carl and David are the ones with the interesting energy posts, most of which are about the doom and gloom that is going to befall us here in the US since we, in general, are not creating any new plants, nor upgrading our transmission system. I should start off by saying that I am no expert in this field, just a reporter on events.

Urban Wildlife Update

June 28, 2009 by Dan from Madison

There has been a bear sighting in the Cleveland area.

Now, God bless ’em, local TV crews need work too, but someone please tell me that this is a joke.

As a side note, my grandmother still lives in the northwoods of Wisconsin and black bear sightings have been common up there for a very long time. They love garbage and even knock down my grandmother’s bird feeder from time to time.